
Written by: Katarina Blomqvist, Liisa Enwald Eeva Kilpi comes from eastern Karelia, east of Finland's present-day border with Russia, studied English philology at the University of Helsinki, and worked as a teacher before she began to earn a living from her writing. From 1970 to 1975, she chaired the PEN club in Finland. She made her debut with the short story collection Noidanlukko in 1959. She wrote about the evacuation of the population of Karelia in Elämä edestakasin, 1964, and Elämän evakkona, 1983, as well as in her autobiographical novel trilogy Talvisodan aika (1989; Eng. tr. The Time of the Winter War), Välirauha ikävöinnin aika, 1990, which describes the interwar period, and Jatkosodan aika, 1993. Her experimental, erotic novel Tamara (1972; Eng. tr. Tamara) which brought her international success, depicts the relationship between a sexually active woman and a handicapped man. In many of her works, the central character is a strong, independent woman, for example in her novels Häätanhu, 1973, Nainen kuvastimessa, 1962, and in Kesä ja keski-ikäinen nainen, 1970. Besides fiction, she has also written autobiographical literature: Ihmisen ääni, 1976, and Naisen päiväkirja, 1978. In Ihmisen ääni she challenges the myth of the mother. With her works Laulu rakkaudesta ja muita runoja, 1972, and Terveisin, 1976, Eeva Kilpi has made her mark as an ironic and humorous poet of the everyday. These collections were published in 1980 in Swedish under the title Sånger om kärlek, while a selection of the poems was published in Danish under the title En sang om kærlighed in 1981. In her later poetry collections Ennen kuolemaa, 1982, and Animalia, 1987, Eeva Kilpi questions man's right to dominate nature. Her poetry collection Kiitos eilisestä, 1996, is about sorrow and ageing, but also about love and passion. Additions by the editorial team 2011: The above biography was first published in 1998. Since then, Eeva Kilpi has written the novel Unta vain, 2007, and Rajattomuuden aika, 2001.
Series
Books

Animalia
1987

Perhonen ylittää tien
kootut runot 1972-2000
2000

Punainen muistikirja
2019
Sånger om kärlek
1972

Häätanhu
1973

Tamara
1972

Jatkosodan aika
1993

Om kärleken och döden
Samlade dikter
1996

Kuolinsiivous
2012

Ennen kuolemaa
Runoja
1982

Talvisodan aika
Lapsuusmuistelma
1989

Terveisin
runoja
1976

Naisen päiväkirja
1978

Rakkauden ja kuoleman pöytä
Moraliteetteja
1967

Rajattomuuden aika
kertomus lapsuudesta
2001

Kesä ja keski-ikäinen nainen
1970

A Landscape Blossoms Within Me
2014

Elämän evakkona
1983

Valkoinen muistikirja
2021

Sininen muistikirja
2019

Kiitos eilisestä
1996

Za letních nocí se tu nespí lehce
2019

Elämää kaikki päivät
2022

Muistojen aika
1998

Välirauha, ikävöinnin aika
1990